Cakes & Ale Closes and Reopens / Watershed Moves To Buckhead

Before I skipped town a little over a week ago, I made mention of some rumors.  I was hoping to get them posted while I traveled; however, a burned out MoBo and the realization that vacation was for … well … vacationing, left y’all with a stagnate page to stare at.  Anywho, while I operate on a bandaged up computer system, here’s what’s happened with those rumors about Decatur’s two most notable higher-end dining establishments …

C&A

Cakes & Ale officially confirmed that they were shuttering their Ponce doors and opening up in Decatur Square.  The closure took place on Saturday the 6th and as of now, they are on time to open up in the new location on August 16th.  Of particular note is the addition of a wood-burning oven, a small oyster bar, and the additional walk-in seating available on account of the larger interior and the patio.

With No. 246 now open, the new oven and expanded menu at Cakes seems a response to the competition.  However, much of this was in the works well before 246 was even announced.  Oh … and they will have a bakery on site staffed by Brooke Lenderman and Alan O’Hargain, as well as Melanie Durant, the new sous chef in charge of pastry, and Becky Vocaire.  Internal kitchen shuffling was marked by the addition of Andrew Sheridan as a sous chef.

Okay – great – so all that has been disseminated and published all over the place.  What hasn’t been discussed is the plan for the “old” Cakes & Ale spot.  READ CAREFULLY: Word on the street, courtesy of someone who is a much more reliable source of information than most people who do the chatting, is that there are tentative plans for a taqueria in the now abandoned space.    Let’s keep a few things in mind: a) nothing has been signed! b) the people behind the potential taqueria are still unknown c) with TDS almost across the street and doing upwards of $2m a year from that location … one can only imagine what would posses someone to do a taqueria just an arms’ length away.

Obviously, proceed with caution as this could fall through – but as of now – all signs point to a new Mexican joint in the D-town.

Watershed

Watershed has had a rough go of it since Scott Peacock made like a chicken and flew the coop.  There were rampant rumors of the restaurants demise, most of which came with the notation that it was scheduled to rise again.  As it stands, that in fact seems to be the case.

Like C&A, ‘Shed turned August 6th 2011 from just a bad day for Decatur foodies into “The Day The Food Died … In Decatur.”  They too shutdown after dinner service; however, the restaurant’s future is much somewhat more muddled than C&A’s.  What seems universally agreed upon is that the owners of Watershed are planning on opening again but in a space outside of Decatur.  It’s also agreed upon that the plan is to have this new place open by the end of 2011.

According to Tomorrow’s News Today, Watershed has just signed a lease to open again in Brookwood Hills. The restaurant will anchor The Brookwood condominium project at 1833 Peachtree Rd.

Based on the vast number of unsubstantiated rumors as well as the words from those people who do actually know what they are talking about – it seems as if the new place is scheduled to be an expanded concept of the original Watershed and that the powers that be are still struggling with the idea of either using the Watershed brand or going in a whole new direction.

And as a complete matter of opinion based on what I’ve seen and heard, I seriously doubt this place will be up and running by EOY, if ever.